The Poison Center Cluster at the Indonesia Medical Education and Research Institute (IMERI) of the Faculty of Medicine (FK) of Universitas Indonesia (UI) was officially opened. The inauguration was carried out by the Dean of FKUI, Prof. Dr. dr. Ari Fahrial Syam, Sp.PD-KGEH., MMB, on Wednesday, July 31, in the 3rd floor Auditorium Room of the IMERI FKUI Building, Jakarta. Prof. Ari Fahrial hopes that this cluster can become a center for information, control, education, and research on poisoning cases in Indonesia.
According to him, poisoning is one of the clinical problems that threatens life and requires comprehensive treatment to prevent death and long-term complications. The increasing production and use of toxic chemicals make the need for a center for information and handling of poisoning increasingly urgent.
“The formalin issue that has been widely discussed since the 2000s reminds us that the food we consume is at risk of being exposed to toxins. In addition, cases such as cyanide coffee, and recent bread containing dangerous preservatives cases, require the public to be more vigilant. Therefore, IMERI as a research center can be a discussion forum for experts because the issue of poisoning involves many fields, such as internal medicine, anesthesia, and neurology. This topic of poisoning will be a very important issue in society in the future,” said Prof. Ari Fahrial.
The launch of the Poison Center Cluster was initiated by the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, FKUI, involving experts from several areas of expertise, such as Medical Pharmacy, Occupational Medicine Specialists, Forensic and Medicolegal Medicine, Anesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Psychiatry, Pediatrics, and Emergency Medicine Specialists.
Director of IMERI FKUI, Prof. dr. Badriul Hegar, Ph.D., Sp.A(K), said that the opening of the Poison Center Cluster was carried out because the handling of poisoning still has gaps, while poisoning is a complex problem that must be handled in a multidisciplinary and comprehensive manner. With the existence of experts who are strong enough in the related scientific fields, and the government’s attention that is quite good in poisoning cases, IMERI FKUI decided to open the cluster.
“We need a place to sit together, study, and develop education and research related to poisoning problems. I am very happy with the emergence of this center. Hopefully, the existence of the Poison Center Cluster can create new things in improving public health through the innovations produced,” said Prof. Badriul Hegar.
